Letters to the editor for Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday

Apr 14, 2014 at 12:01 AM

A shooting at Fort Hood, a stabbing at a Pennyslvania high school, a man deciding to ram his car into the back of someone else’s car, causing it to crash into a daycare center killing a child and seriously injuring many others. How long must we as a society put up with this type of behavior before insisting on major improvements in our mental health care system? Nearly 100 percent of the people who commit crimes such as those listed above suffer from some type of mental illness.Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and personality disorders, among others, are all physical illnesses which manifest themselves in many emotional and behavioral symptoms, and they deserve the same attention given to physical illnesses. Most health insurance companies will cover only 6-12 days on average per year on inpatient mental health care, and about 20 visits to a therapist. Most of the above illnesses require much more than that, for both inpatient and outpatient care.Care of the mentally ill is also often substandard, compared to care offered to those who are diagnosed with diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Our county has one inpatient mental health facility that will accept children, and that is listed as a crisis stabilization unit — caring only for a child until that child is deemed safe. That leaves it to the parents or guardians, who in many cases have neither the financial means nor the time or ability to do so, to continue and complete the necessary treatment. Often proper treatment means leaving the county, or even our state, and many cannot afford to do so. In addition to ineffectively brief periods of inpatient care, too often patients are treated inhumanely, as though they were criminals who have control over their untreated or improperly treated illnesses. Our society needs to wake up and insist on appropriate funding and care for those who have mental illness, along with their families who suffer unimaginable stress as well. Only then will we see a significant drop in crime rates, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, child and elder abuse and neglect and even other serious issues in our communities such as rampant divorce and teen pregnancy.Let’s get to work, Volusia County, and do something about the unacceptable treatment of those who suffer from mental illnesses.Nancy HopkinsPort Orange

Volusia County took a giant step forward in addressing the pollution in our local water bodies last Thursday. The members of the County Council who voted for a strong fertilizer ordinance are to be congratulated for listening to the voices of their constituents. Members of the fertilizer industry had lobbied in March for a weakened ordinance, in spite of overwhelming evidence that nitrification of the Halifax and Indian Rivers, along with the St Johns River, is directly caused by fertilizer runoff, among other causes. Those other causes include septic tanks and the remedy for that will be expensive and take a long time to implement. The ordinance passed is the fairly weak state-sponsored ordinance. However, the council also instructed staff to transmit to the state four additional measures that will be added to the ordinance to bring it in line with those passed by other counties south of Volusia. These extra steps include: banning applications of phosphorus without a soil test showing necessity, mandating 50 percent slow-release nitrogen, banning application of fertilizer within 15 feet of waterways and a ban on rainy-season applications.Council members Pat Northey, Joyce Cusack, Doug Daniels and Pat Patterson voted for the ordinance. Northey voiced the opinion of many of those in attendance that day when she said, “It would be shameful of us not to adopt the strongest protections we can do.” Thanks to these representatives for doing the right thing.David HartgroveDaytona Beach

In his April 5 column, “Look beyond stereotypes,” Leonard Pitts Jr. pleads with the reader to spend a few quality moments gazing at the booking photograph of Shanesha Taylor “so that you can appreciate the realness and individuality of her.” Disgracefully, the writer dedicated most of the column to lambasting the “political right,” which he also refers to as the “right wing.” Then he proceeds to indicate this person’s salvation and all others in her predicament lie with the government and the welfare programs that have failed miserably in accomplishing their intended goal of ending poverty. Pitts’ head appears to be stuck in the sand. Pitts refuses to acknowledge the truth, as addressed by Rep. Paul Ryan. Over 70 percent of African-American children are born into a single-parent condition.I have no first-hand knowledge of Taylor’s background or lifestyle. However, before anyone can reasonably “appreciate the realness and individuality of her” it is essential the following information be known: Where is her socially responsible husband? Why is he not supporting his family? Did she have sufficient means to rear a family when she propagated her two children? The youngest child is only 6 months old — did she fall on hard times only within the past six months? What is her educational background?Until such time this nation is willing to face the reality of the demise of a family-oriented culture, the problem will only grow. This applies to our entire society, not just one racial segment. John D. RossEdgewater

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